<The article listed all the evils of lookup tables, but did not suggest alternatives for the benefits that the lookup table provides.>
... Yes, this is a source of confusion.
;-)
Lookup Fields should only be on your *Forms* not in the tables.
The exact same Lookup wizard is available in design view of a Form.
;-)
The error you are getting is a result of you having two left Joins on a table.
If you changed the joins to an Inner joins, (Fields on both tables are the same) it should work.